U's

/* This continues the topic I started in Quantum Observations. For the initiated the point of the article was that the potential spontaneous appearance of an observer on one of the branches of the superposition, however improbable, would collapse the functions making the slightest chance for the appearance of an observer an inevitable fact.I am arguing that this is the real explanation of the highly improbable appearance of conscious life or more precisely - observers.

I've mentioned that this also means that we are alone in the universe but in what sense?

Many of the questions I got are different versions of the following argument:When the superpositions collapse, is that a local thing or does it apply to the whole universe? If it is local, can't two separate observers created on two remote galaxies, eventually meet?

Let's start by taking a closer look at our abused kitten. When the poison pill explodes the kitten is painfully aware of it. If it doesn't, it is just lying in the dark, bored and upset. Either way, from its perspective the superposition has already collapsed. Only outside the box is it still undecided. The experiment tells us that superpositions collapse when knowledge is obtained by the observer. The effects are definitely local.

If you are looking at a distant galaxy that only appears as a bright dot in the night sky, you have very little knowledge about it. All positions that manifest as this bright dot are still undecided. In a manner of speaking this galaxy is one big superposition waiting to happen.Previous arguments are leading us to suspect that the distant galaxy is crawling with intelligent and inevitable observers so why can't we meet them? We invent federal tax, build a huge telescope, turn it on and aloha!Well, the second we turned on the telescope the superposition collapses to one of its more probable positions and sadly this doesn't include any green men.

The strongest argument for life other than ours in the universe state that if it happened once it could happen twice: there is nothing special about us that could not theoretically happen again. However, if we accept the singularity of observers as the explanation for the appearance of life, there is something that makes us special: we were first (from our point-of-view at least and yes it is a bit confusing but give it some time).

When we say that the appearance of an observer is inevitable, it is true for that specific observer. There are infinite universes with Observers in them but only one observer in each one. We are alone in ours.

* this is using the terminology of the Many-Worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics. If you'd like to use a different interpretation the wording will change but the result would be the same - we are alone in our universe.

* When I say "specific observer", it means all of us on this planet. If the first observer had a way to reproduce, it's off-springs are likely enough to happen. Since evolution (i.e. error prone replicators) happened to be the path that led to our first observer, the second one is part of that same observer "type".